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Fox News Retracts Seth Rich Story That Stirred Controversy Fox News Retracts Story Linking Murder of D.N.C. Aide to 2016 Presidential Campaign
(about 5 hours later)
Fox News on Tuesday retracted a May 16 story about the murder of a former Democratic National Committee staff member, Seth Conrad Rich, which has stirred conspiracy theories that have been pushed by Sean Hannity, one of the network’s biggest stars. Fox News on Tuesday retracted a story linking the murder of a Democratic National Committee staff member with the email hacks that aided President Trump’s campaign, effectively quashing a conspiracy theory that had taken hold across the right-wing media.
“The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting,” Fox News said in its statement. “Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed.” It was a rare acknowledgment of error by the cable channel. But it also underscored a schism between the network’s news-gathering operation and one of its biggest stars: the conservative commentator Sean Hannity, who has unapologetically promoted the theory and on Tuesday remained defiant.
The retraction appeared to put the network’s news-gathering operation at odds with Mr. Hannity, who serves as a commentator. On Twitter, Mr. Hannity has been unapologetic about his focus on Mr. Rich’s murder. “These are questions that I have a moral obligation to ask,” Mr. Hannity said on his radio show, shortly after Fox News announced its mistake. “All you in the liberal media — I am not Fox.com or FoxNews.com. I retracted nothing.”
Mr. Hannity is not the only Fox News personality to embrace the theory. Newt Gingrich discussed the case on “Fox and Friends” on Sunday, and Geraldo Rivera, a correspondent at large, tweeted about it on Monday. The story of the murdered aide, Seth Conrad Rich, who was 27 when he was shot in the back near his Washington home in July, has been seized on by Mr. Hannity and other right-wing pundits as an alternative narrative to the cascade of damaging revelations last week about the Trump administration’s ties to Russian officials who meddled in the presidential election.
Mr. Rich, 27, was shot in the back near his home in Washington in July. The Washington Metropolitan Police Department is still investigating, but his family believes he was murdered during a failed robbery. Citing unnamed sources, Fox News’s website published a story suggesting that Mr. Rich’s death was in retaliation for his sharing D.N.C. emails with WikiLeaks — a theory that, if true, would undercut the notion of Russian political interference and, in turn, offer cover for Mr. Trump.
Some right-wing commentators have suggested that Mr. Rich had shared material with WikiLeaks, and that the death was a form of retribution. No evidence to support the theory has emerged. No evidence to support that theory has emerged, and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department is still investigating the death of Mr. Rich. Mr. Rich’s family, which believes he was murdered during a failed robbery, has called for retractions from news organizations that promoted the story; on Tuesday, Fox News agreed.
Mr. Rich’s family has called the politicization of his death “painful” and “debilitating” and asked for retractions and apologies from the outlets that had promoted the story. “The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting,” the network said in a statement. “The article was found not to meet those standards, and has since been removed.”
Kim Dotcom, an internet entrepreneur who is wanted in the United States for racketeering charges, said in a statement that he had evidence that Mr. Rich was a WikiLeaks source, but he has not offered the evidence publicly. The statement did not address Mr. Hannity’s coverage of Mr. Rich’s death, and Fox News representatives declined to comment further.
Over the weekend, Mr. Hannity extended an invitation to Mr. Dotcom to appear on his show. On Tuesday, Aaron Rich, who is the brother of Seth Rich, sent a letter to the executive producer of “The Sean Hannity Show,” asking that Mr. Hannity not allow Mr. Dotcom on the show, according to CNN. The speculation about Mr. Rich’s death — and its implications for an embattled president — captivated audiences in the right-wing media sphere, from Mr. Hannity’s prime-time show to more obscure but influential websites like The Gateway Pundit, which rose to prominence last year in part by spreading rumors about Hillary Clinton’s health.
“Nobody wants to solve Seth’s murder more than we do,” Aaron Rich said. “However, providing a platform to spread potentially false, damaging information will cause us additional pain, suffering and sorrow. By airing this information, you will continue to emotionally hurt us.” The theory also surfaced on Fox News beyond Mr. Hannity: Newt Gingrich, a network contributor, discussed the case on “Fox and Friends” on Sunday, and Geraldo Rivera, a correspondent at large, tweeted about it.
On the radio Tuesday, Mr. Hannity mocked journalists who questioned his interest in the subject, equating the theory about Mr. Rich’s murder to the reports that Mr. Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian officials during the election.
“For those who accuse me of pushing a conspiracy theory, you are the biggest phony hypocrites in the entire world,” said Mr. Hannity, who speaks regularly with Mr. Trump.
This was the second high-profile break between Mr. Hannity and his employer in two months: in April, the host warned publicly of “the total end” of Fox News if the network fired Bill Shine, a top executive and close friend of Mr. Hannity. Mr. Shine ultimately resigned, but Mr. Hannity stayed put, even as the television news industry speculated about his plans. (Mr. Hannity appeared to stoke that speculation again in a tweet on Tuesday, promising a coming announcement about “my future at Fox.”)
Mr. Hannity is the remaining member of Fox News’s once-invincible prime-time lineup, following the departures of Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly, who left last month after The New York Times reported that he had agreed to settlements with multiple women who accused him of harassment. The network’s prime-time ratings have fallen, especially as Mr. Trump’s troubles have grown.
Some Fox News employees this week said they had been angered by Mr. Hannity’s ongoing broadcasts about the Rich theory, calling it an embarrassment to the network’s journalists.
Other employees expressed shock that the network was willing to retract the story at all. Under Roger E. Ailes, its pugnacious former chairman who died last week, Fox News followed a mantra of “never apologize,” weathering all manner of controversies over its coverage. But since Mr. Ailes’s exit in a sexual harassment scandal, the network has been more willing to admit error.
It apologized in January after inaccurately describing a suspect as Moroccan after a mass shooting at a Canadian mosque. In March, the network briefly sidelined Andrew Napolitano, its senior legal analyst, after he made an unsupported accusation that Britain’s top spy agency had wiretapped Mr. Trump on behalf of President Barack Obama.
Before the retraction, Mr. Hannity had promised to feature an account on his program from Kim Dotcom, an internet entrepreneur who is wanted in the United States on racketeering charges. Mr. Dotcom has said that he has evidence that Mr. Rich was a WikiLeaks source, but he has not offered the evidence publicly. On Tuesday, Aaron Rich, the brother of Seth Rich, sent a letter to Mr. Hannity’s executive producer asking that Mr. Dotcom not be allowed on air.
“Nobody wants to solve Seth’s murder more than we do,” Aaron Rich wrote. “However, providing a platform to spread potentially false, damaging information will cause us additional pain, suffering and sorrow.”
A spokesman for the Rich family, Brad Bauman, said on Tuesday that they were grateful for the formal retraction. He declined to say if Fox News offered an apology.
“We are hopeful that in the future Fox News will work with the family to ensure the highest degree of professionalism and scrutiny is followed,” Mr. Bauman wrote in a statement, “so that only accurate facts are reported surrounding this case.”